Pursuit
by Calai'di
Summary: Apparently Gauche had decided to treat him like a friend. It was a change Christopher found he didn't mind at all. post-WDC, VxGauche pre-slash


**Pairing:** V/Gauche

**Rating:** PG

**Summary:**_ Apparently Gauche had decided to treat him like a friend. It was a change Christopher found he didn't mind at all._

* * *

**Pursuit**

"Nii-sama, he's here again..."

Christopher slowly raised his eyes from his book. Mihael was standing at the window, holding the curtain back just enough to look down at the ground outside. The expression on his face and the words he'd spoken were more than enough to let Christopher figure out who _he_ was. _He _had been ringing their doorbell at least one or twice a week since the end of the WDC, always with the same request.

"Should I tell him you're not here?" Mihael asked with a faint smile.

Christopher sighed and carefully shut his book. "No, I'll deal with him."

He wasn't always in the mood to deal with the man or grant him his requests, so Mihael and Thomas had lied to him quite a few times to get him to leave, particularly at the beginning of all this nonsense. Lately, however, he'd found himself actually looking forward to these silly visits and wondering when the next one might be, because of course he never seemed to have an actual schedule. It just seemed that he would show up whenever he got too frustrated by his own ineptitude, which was happening a bit more frequently lately.

Of course, the man was lucky that he'd caught him on a day when he actually was there and didn't have a lot to do. There had been a couple occasions when his brothers hadn't had to lie because he really was away or too busy.

Christopher opened the front door a couple minutes later to find the man standing right where he always did, just a little too close to the doorway, and looking just as eager and determined as every other time.

"V! Get your deck out, you're going down today!" he exclaimed as soon as the door opened, like he always did.

"Is that so?" Christopher murmured with a faint smile, but he was already stepping outside and activating the little power he had left to allow his duel disk to appear. "You say that every time, Gauche, and every time you fail to live up to it. What makes today so different?"

"I've been working on a new strategy," Gauche declared with a fierce grin as he led the way out into the street. "There's no way you're gonna win today."

"I'm flattered," Christopher said, careful to keep just the right amount of sarcasm in his voice. There was no reason Gauche needed to know he actually _was _a bit flattered, deep, deep down, by the amount of attention Gauche had been giving him. He knew it was because the man was frustrated he couldn't beat someone who, as he claimed, had no "guts" and relied on tricks to deal damage rather than a straightforward approach, but it was flattering nonetheless.

Gauche certainly did seem to have a slightly different aura about him today. He usually grew frustrated and angry as the duel progressed, either because his carefully crafted strategies hadn't worked, or because Christopher had come up with some new strategy of his own that was sure to piss him off. Today he only seemed to be having more fun as Christopher chipped away at his life-points, and as soon as the duel was over, he demanded another one.

His attitude was almost infectious, and Christopher found himself agreeing without even thinking about it. Well, he had been having a bit of fun himself; Gauche had actually come up with a couple very clever strategies, and he'd enjoyed having to work his way through them. Gauche wasn't always a challenge to defeat, because his straightforward style often ran headlong into Christopher's traps, but sometimes he could be and those were always the times Christopher actually enjoyed dueling him.

It was growing dark by the time Gauche demanded a third duel, though he didn't seem to care, and Christopher found he didn't either. Besides, he always thought it was more interesting to duel in the dark like this, under the stars which could only barely be seen through the lights of Heartland.

In fact, that was probably what distracted him. Either that or watching Gauche light up like a child in a candy store any time he managed to land a blow.

Either way, it wasn't long before he found himself flat on his back, blinking up at the AR field as it dissipated away after one last, crushing blow.

And then he was blinking up at Gauche, who was grinning down at him and holding out a hand to help him up.

"How was _that_, huh? Told you I'd beat you you!"

Christopher took a moment to keep staring up at him, first because he was a bit shocked that he had actually lost, and then because he was a bit shocked by how little that bothered him. Oh, he felt determined never to let it happen again, and he was a bit disappointed in himself, but he'd been enjoying himself to much to really be angry-and Gauche was too delighted to get angry at him-and now he really did have a challenge on his hands. Gauche had finally proven he was worthy of all these little visits and the attention Christopher allowed him.

He finally took the hand with a smile smile and let Gauche help him pull himself up. "Do it again and I might think you actually have improved."

Gauche just laughed, and as soon as he was one his feet, the man clapped an arm around his shoulders and started dragging him off down the street.

"Yeah, we'll see if you're still singing that tune next time. C'mon, let's go celebrate! My treat."

Christopher couldn't help but stare at him even as he hurried not to trip over his own feet because of how abruptly he'd been dragged into having to move them. "Your treat...you're going to buy me dinner?"

"Sure, why not?"

Christopher shook his head, still completely bemused. "Usually the winner would be the one being treated. I thought you didn't like me much, anyway."

Gauche shrugged and gave him an awkward grin and rocked him a bit with the arm still draped over him. "Eh, you're not so bad when you aren't kidnapping kids."

Which didn't answer his first statement, and while it did somewhat answer his second, it was obviously meant to rile him, as he'd already apologize for that more than once to multiple people, included the two to whom it actually mattered. But it was less his words and more the way he acted-familiar and friendly-that actually answered both for him, and he couldn't help but smile a bit himself.

Apparently Gauche had decided to treat him like a friend. It was certainly a change from being treated like an enemy or a rival, and while he had no idea what it might lead to, it was a change Christopher found he didn't mind at all.


End file.
